Automatic bearing oiler



March 31, 1953 T. M. KUEHN AUTOMATIC BEARING OILER Filed Oct. 26. 1951Inventor Tl/EADJAE M; KUEHN A llorney parts as shown in Figure 2,

Patented Mar. 31, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,633,209 AUTOMATICBEARING OILER Theadore M. Kuehn, Nara Visa, N. Mex.

Application October 26, 1951, Serial No. 253,266

7 Claims.

. a 1 This invention relates to a device for automatically oiling abearing and more particularly to an oiling device having a shutoff valvewhich is thermostatically controlled by temperature responsive meansarranged to be actuated by the temperature of a bearing for opening thevalve in response to heating of the bearing to supply oil thereto andfor closing the valve to shut off the 7 oil supply when the bearingcools.

More particularly, it is an aim of the present invention to provide anautomatic bearing oiler of extremely simple construction constituting asmall and compact unit which may be readily '7 supported on a bearingand which is capable of containing a sufficient quantity of a lubricantto insure proper lubrication of the bearing for long period of time.

nection between its shutoff valve and temperature responsive means andwherein the shutoff valve is adjustable for regulating the extent ofopening thereof when actuated by the thermostat and the temperaturerequired to effect an opening of the valve for supplying oil to thebearing.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafterbecome more fully apparent from the following description of thedrawing, illustrating a presently preferred em-' bodiment thereof, andwherein:

Figure l is a perspective view of the assembled unit shown in an appliedposition on a bearing, illustrated partly in perspective and partly insection; a

Figure 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of a portion of the unitwith the cover part thereof removed;

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view of the unit taken substantially alonga plane as indicated by the line 3-3 of Figure 2 and with the cover inan applied position;

' Figure 4 is an end elevational view looking from right to left ofFigure 2 and with the cover shown applied;

Figure 5 is a top plan view, partly in horizontal section of the unitportion as shown in Figures 'the invention is'designated generally 8 andis illustrated in Figure 1 in an applied position on a conventionalbearing 9 which journals a shaft |0.

The bearing oiler 8 includes a storage tank for oil or other fluentlubricants which is filled through the filling neck |2 when the closure13 is removed and which is provided adjacent its bottom with an outletnipple M to which is connected one end of a supply conduit l5. The tankII is provided with a base l6 having fastenings ll extendingtherethrough by means of which the tank may be secured to and supportedon the bearing 9, as illustrated in Figure 1, or on any other suitablesupporting surface.

A supporting plate I8 is secured by means of fastenings l9 against thebearing 9 at either a side or end thereof and as illustrated in Figure1, said plate I8 is preferably disposed beneath the nipple M of the tankII. An elongated member 20 of channel shape cross section is suitablysecured to the outer side of the supporting member I8 and longitudinallythereof. The base portion 2| of the channel member 20 terminates at adistance from corresponding ends of a top Wall 22 and a bottom Wall23'of said channel member so that extensions of said walls 22 and 23which project beyond an endof the base 2| form vertically spacedapertured ears 24. A bolt 25 extends outwardly through the supportingmem ber l8 and through the base 2| adjacent the opposite end of thechannel member 20 and likewise extends through a temperature responsiveelement 26, adjacent to one end thereof. A nut 21 is threaded onto theouter end of the bolt 25 against said end of the element 26 and clampssaid element end against the'base 2|. The bimetallic element 28 extendslongitudinally of the channel member 20 and it is normally disposedloosely therein and substantially parallel to its base 2|. The saidbimetallic element 26 preferably comprises two coextensive plies orstrips 28 and 29 formed of different metals having a differentsensitivity to temperature variations, so

A, pivot pin 32 extends loosely through an open ing 33 of the head 3|and the ends of said pin extend through and are flattened on the outersides of the extensions 24, as seen in Figure 2 at 34. The head 3| has aportion 35 projecting from the pivot pin 32 at an angle to thelongitudinal axis of the lever arm 30 and which extends toward theadjacent, free end of the thermostatic element 28. The outer, distal endof the head portion 35 is concavely recessed to provide a groove ofarcuate cross section that is designated 36, which extends from top tobottom of the head portion 35 and in which the free end of thebimetallic element 26 engages to form a pivotal joint between saidelement 26 and the lever 39. The opposite, free end of the lever 39 ispreferably outwardly offset, as seen at 31, and has a thumb screw 38threaded therethrough and to the inner end of which is secured a valveelement 39 which is preferably spherical. The valve element 39 isdisposed on the inner side of lever 30 and a nut 40 is threaded on thescrew 38 and is adapted to be advanced to engage the outer side of thelever 30 to function as a jamb nut for retaining the screw and valve inadjusted positions relatively to the lever arm.

The supporting member it has a shelf 4! proiecting outwardly therefromadjacent its bottom edge and beneath and spaced from the channel member26. An extended lip portion d2 of a funnel s3 is secured to theunderside of a portion of the shelf 4! by a fastening is to support theopen top of the funnel it beyond an end and side edge of the shelf 5!and beneath the lever portion 31. A portion of the conduit 15 locatedadjacent its opposite, discharge end 65 is disposed on and suitablysecured to the shelf 5| to position the discharge end 65 above the opentop of the funnel 433.

The lower, restricted end Q5 of the funnel 53 is connected to one end ofa conduit i! which is preferably flexible and which is provided at itsopposite end with a threaded nipple 2-3 which is tapped into a radialport :19 of the bearing 9 and which port communicates with the bearingbore below the level of the funnel 43.

A cover 56 is detachably disposed over the open outer side of thechannel member 28 to enclose the thermostatic element 26 and has an openend 5% terminating adjacent the lever arm 39 and disposed so as not tointerfere with operation of said lever or the thermostat 26.

Assuming that the screw 38 has been adjusted to cause the valve 39 toseat tight in the discharge end 45 of pipe l5 when the temperatureresponsive element 26 is in its normal position of Figures 1 to 5 andthat the jamb nut 49 has been advanced to retain the screw 38 inadjusted position, the parts as thus disposed are in normal positionswith the supply conduit l5 from the storage tank H sealed at its outletend 45 by the valve 39 so that no lubricant, not shown, from the tank Hwill be supplied to the bearing 9. Assuming that the shaft Iii isrevolving, reciprocating or otherwise moving in the bearing 9, whenthere is insufficient lubricant in the bearing bore to permit the shaftto move freely therein, the bearing 9 will commence to heat and the heatwill be transmitted therefrom through the parts l8 and 2| for heatingthe heat responsive element 25. The inner or rear strip 23 of theelement 26 being more sensitive to temperature variations than the outerstrip 29 will expand. in response to this increase in temperaturecausing the free end of the element 26 to be biased outwardly of thechannel member 2%. As the free end of the element engages in thegroove36 of the lever 30 to form a pivotal joint, due to the length of thelever 39 from its pivot 32 to the screw 38, a slight movement of thefree end of the heat responsive element 26 outwardly of the channelmember 29- will cause the lever 30 to swing counterclockwise on itspivot 32 sufficiently to unseat the valve 39 from the pipe end 45allowing oil to flow therefrom by gravity into the pipe 47 through thefunnel 43. Since the funnel 43 is above the level of the inner end ofthe bearing port 49, the lubricant will fill the pipe 4? until it risesinto the bore of the bearing 9, and in actual practice the portion ofthe pipe 4i disposed below the level of the upper end of the nipple 48will be constantly filled with oil so that as soon as a slight amount ofoil or lubricant is thus released into the funnel 43, lubricant will besupplied to the bore or bearing 9. When this occurs, the bearing 9 willbe cooled by a reduction of friction between it and the shaft l9 and thestrip 28 in response to this decrease in temperature will contractrelatively to the strip 29 so that the element 26 will resume a positionsubstantially parallel to the parts l8 and 2| for returning the valve 39to a seated position to close the pipe outlet 35. Figure 6 illustratesthe extreme open position of the valve 39, Whereas in actual operationthe valve 39 will ordinarily only open slightly to allow sufficientlubricant in the tank H to replenish the lubricant in the bearing 9 forcooling the bearing and causing the valve to be returned to a closedposition by retraction of the thermostatic element 26, as previouslydescribed.

The various parts may be made of different sizes and shapes and the tankll may be supported on any other suitable support than the bearing 9 solong as it is disposed to supply the lubricant by gravity to thedischarge end 45 of conduit it. Likewise, the nipple d3 may dischargeinto any desired part of the hearing so long as it is disposed below thelevel of the upper portion of the funnel 43.

Various other modifications and changes are contemplated and mayobviously be resorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope ofthe invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. An automatic lubricating device of the character described comprisinga source of supply of a lubricant, an outlet conduit leading therefromand having an outlet end disposed below the level of the source ofsupply from which a lubricant is adapted to be fed by gravity, asupporting member adapted to be secured to a bearing, a temperatureresponsive element secured at one end to said supporting member andhaving an opposite, free end, a lever having a head at one end thereofpivotally connected to said supporting member beyond the free end of thetemperature responsive element, said head having an extension projectedat an angle to the longitudinal axis of the lever, means forming aflexible joint between the free end of the heat responsive element andsaid extension of the lever head, a second conduit having a flared upperend secured to said support beneath a free end portion of the lever, aportion of said outlet conduit being secured to the support forpositioning the outlet end thereof above the flared end of the secondconduit, said second conduit having an opposite discharge end adapted toopen into the bearing bore below the level of its first mentioned flaredend, and a valve connected to and carried by the free end portion ofsaid lever, said temperature responsive element being normally disposedin substantially a straight position in an end-to-end relationship to thlever head extension for maintaining the lever and lever head extensionfor swinging the leverin a direction to displace the valve away from theoutlet end of the outlet conduit to permit oil to be discharged bygravity therefrom through the second conduit to the bearing bore.

2. An automatic bearing oiler as in claim 1,

said supporting member including an elongated channel member in whichthe temperature responsive element is disposed and to which one endthereof is secured, said lever head being pivotally mounted in theopposite end of said channel member.

3. An automatic bearing oiler as in claim 2, and a cover memberdetachably mounted over the open side of said channel member andsubstantially enclosing the temperature responsive element, said covermember having an open end beyond which the lever is disposed when thevalve is in a closed position.

4. An automatic bearing oiler as in claim 1, said heat responsiveelement including substantially coextensive strips of metal, one of saidstrips being more sensitive to heat variations than the other strip andbeing disposed nearer the bearing to be expanded by an increase intemperature to cause the free end of said temperature responsive elementto be biased in a direction away from the bearing.

5. An automatic bearing oiler as in claim 1, and a funnel detachablyconnected to said conduit and to the supporting member constituting theflared, first mentioned end of said second conduit.

6. An automatic lubricator of the character described comprising asupporting member adapted to be secured to a journal or hearing, atemperature responsive element secured to said supporting member havinga free end biased away from the bearing or journal in response to anincrease in temperature and biased towards the bearing or journal inresponse to a decrease in temperature, a lever having a head at one endthereof pivotally connected to the supporting member beyond the free endof the temperature responsive element, said lever head having anextension disposed at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the lever,means forming a flexible joint between the lever head extension and freeend of the temperature responsive element, a lubricant supply conduithaving a discharge end to which a lubricant is adapted to be fed bygravity, a valve connected to and carried by the opposite, free end ofthe lever normally seating in and closing the discharge end of thesupply conduit when the temperature responsive element is in a normalposition substantially in alignment with the lever head extension, and asecond conduit having an upper inlet end secured to the supportingmember beneath the discharge end of the supply conduit for receiving thelubricant therefrom and having a lower discharge end opening into thebore of the hearing or journal, said lever being rocked on its pivot ina direction for displacing the valve away from the discharge end of thelubricant supply conduit when the temperature responsive element isbiased away from the bearing or journal by an increase in temperature topermit a lubricant to flow from the supply conduit into said secondconduit for lubricating the bearing or journal. '7. An automaticlubricating device as in claim 6, a valve stem extending threadedlythrough the free end of said lever on which said valve is supported,said valve stem being adjustable in the lever for adjusting the valvelaterally of the lever toward and away from the discharge end of thelubricant supply conduit to vary the amount of heat required to unseatsaid valve.

THEADORE M. KUEHN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,649,467 Goodrich Nov. 15, 192'?1,930,313 Hammond Oct. 10, 1933 2,024,536 Pearce Dec. 17, 1935

